Corps of Rangers
History The Corps of Rangers was supposedly created around 150 years ago, during the time King Herbert was the king of Araluen. Herbert felt that if Araluen was to remain safe, they needed a effective intelligence force, to gather knowledge about enemies or potential enemies, so if needed a plan can be made to protect Araluen from attack. So the Corps of Rangers was founded, to act as the 'eyes and ears' of the kingdom. As stated by Halt, the Rangers' job is to "Patrol the kingdom and beyond. We listen. We observe. And we report back." Many people among the kingdom do not know much about the Rangers, thinking of them as shifty characters, some coming to conclusions that they use sorcery to "make themselves invisible" as they appear to when using their cloak and impressive skill of adapting to the surrounding area. The original corps was established with 50 rangers; one for each fiefdom of Araluen. The rangers also serve as law-keepers, patrolling their fief making sure that the kingdom's laws are abided by, similar to police officers. In times of war, rangers will act as special troops; guiding armies, scouting ahead, and doing a great deal of the planning. Fully-fledged rangers wear a silver oakleaf (the symbol of the rangers) around their neck, while apprentices' '''wear bronze oakleaves. Arts Skills Ranger's are unique to other troops due to their vast skills in certain things. Apprentice rangers often are born with a knack for certain things that rangers value. Will, for example, was shown having skill in climbing (climbed a large tree after fighting with Horace, then later scaled the wall of the Redmont castle), and blending in with the surroundings (used the movement of the wind and the shdows when crossing the land toward the castle). Rangers are the best in the world in unseen movement, being able to seemingly become invisible to others, with the aid of their cloak. Ranger apprentices eventually get used to this and most rangers will blend in without really thinking about it. From training this so much, rangers tend to try and stay out of sight even when not necessary. Rangers are master archers, described as knocking an arrow on the bowstring in one amazingly fast motion and firing with almost impossible accuracy. After practicing hours upon hours, rangers are able to judge elevation, air direction and any other forces in brief seconds before shooting. In Book 3, Halt was able to shoot a oncoming mounted Lord Deparnieux in between the slits of his helmet from across a battlefield. Weapons and Tools '''Longbow-' The longbow is the main weapon of the rangers. It usually reaches to about the bridge of the user's nose, and has a draw weight of about 60-70 lbs. Apprentice rangers are not able to use longbows, because they are not yet strong enough. They instead use recurve bows. ' '''Double Knife Scabbard-' The double knife scabbard is attached to a ranger's belt, with slots for the saxe knife and the throwing knife. It is issued only to rangers, and cannot be obtained by anyone else. 'Saxe Knife-' The saxe knife is a long knife rangers discovered from the Skandian sea raiders. It is very sharp and made of extremely strong metal, being able to bend and break a sword and not even leave a scratch on the knife's blade. It is also balanced for throwing. 'Throwing Knife-' The throwing knife is smaller knife, designed for being thrown. Extra width at the top allows for balance with the hilt, which helps drive it home in the ranger's target. 'Ranger's cloak-' Rangers are never found without their mysterious ranger cloak. The trick of the cloak is the special woven pattern of forestal colors, similar to that of camouflage, but more complex. The cloak is the main thing that marks a person as a ranger, shown in Book 2: The Burning Bridge when a major at Cobram Castle mistakes Halt for a common forester when he takes his cloak off. 'Ranger Strikers-' A newer ranger weapon which is a brass tube fitted to the ranger's hand with a brass ball on both sides used to strike an enemy, mainly good for stunning or blunt damage. '''Ranger Horses- Rangers are very close to their horses. Will repeatedly thinks that his horse, Tug, actually understands him. You can only ride a Ranger horse if you know it's code word, otherwise it will buck you off like Tug did to Horace in Book 1: The Ruins of Gorlan. They are trained to sense people and animals and give their riders warnings. They can also keep up a canter for hours if they had to. Known Rangers Crowley'-'commandant Castle Araluen Will Treaty''- Redmont fief Halt'-''' Redmont fief Gilan'- 'Norgate fief Clark Meralon- Norgate fief Merron Harrison Geldon Bartell (retired) Berigon (retired) Alun (retired) Inspiration John Flanagan has stated that the main inspirations for rangers are, as guessable, modern day special ops army rangers. Some also say that the shifty rangers from Lord of the Rings may also have been a factor in the idea of the Corps of Rangers.